BBC TWO announced today that filming has started on Inside No. 9 (working title) an anthology of comedies stuffed with dark humour and unexpected twists created, written by and starring Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith (A League Of Gentlemen, Psychoville).

Inside No. 9 will be six separate thirty-minute stories and is a BBC In-house production. The first three episodes are currently being filmed in studio and on location in London, with a second block of filming next summer. The series will air on BBC Two towards the end of 2013.

Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith follow up the multi-award winning Psychoville with an anthology of tales of the genuinely unexpected under the working title Inside No. 9. What goes on behind closed doors on the street where you live? Inside No. 9 invites you into six very different No. 9’s, where the ordinary and mundane rub shoulders with the extraordinary and macabre. From a grand country house where a game of ‘sardines’ leads to some chilling revelations in a wardrobe; to a very oddly haunted house; to the flat of an apparently happy primary school teacher who becomes the victim of a good deed. These unpredictable tales feature high comedy and claustrophobic horror by turns.

“We wanted to explore the sense of claustrophobia and intensity that is brought about by limiting the action to one location in each story. We’re thrilled to have our own anthology series of devilish delights, and can’t wait to throw the doors of our various Number 9’s open to the nation.” said Shearsmith and Pemberton.

Janice Hadlow, BBC Two Controller says “Once again Steve and Reece bring us a comedy series that stands out from the rest, I hope these six dark little tales will be as enjoyed and talked about as their highly acclaimed work to date. That, combined with the stellar cast, will make an exciting addition to BBC Two’s comedy offering next year.”

Jon Plowman, Executive Producer for the BBC added “It feels good to be back in the dark places and sunny uplands of Horror Com a genre that Reece and Steve have really made their own and I am really glad that our casts are testament to the quality of the scripts.”

The first part of the series currently shooting is written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, produced by Adam Tandy (The Thick Of It, A Touch Of Cloth) and directed by David Kerr (Fresh Meat, That Mitchell And Webb Look). The series is executive produced by Jon Plowman (Ab Fab, Twenty Twelve) for the BBC.